Black-hole horizons as probes of black-hole dynamics II: geometrical insights

In a companion paper [1], we have presented a cross-correlation approach to near-horizon physics in which bulk dynamics is probed through the correlation of quantities defined at inner and outer spacetime hypersurfaces acting as test screens. More specifically, dynamical horizons provide appropriate inner screens in a 3+1 setting and, in this context, we have shown that an effective-curvature vector measured at the common horizon produced in a head-on collision merger can be correlated with the flux of linear Bondi-momentum at null infinity. In this paper we provide a more sound geometric basis to this picture. First, we show that a rigidity property of dynamical horizons, namely foliation uniqueness, leads to a preferred class of null tetrads and Weyl scalars on these hypersurfaces. Second, we identify a heuristic horizon news-like function, depending only on the geometry of spatial sections of the horizon. Fluxes constructed from this function offer refined geometric quantities to be correlated with Bondi fluxes at infinity, as well as a contact with the discussion of quasi-local 4-momentum on dynamical horizons. Third, we highlight the importance of tracking the internal horizon dual to the apparent horizon in spatial 3-slices when integrating fluxes along the horizon. Finally, we discuss the link between the dissipation of the non-stationary part of the horizon's geometry with the viscous-fluid analogy for black holes, introducing a geometric prescription for a "slowness parameter" in black-hole recoil dynamics.Comment: Final version published on PR

Microscopic and Macroscopic Signatures of Antiferromagnetic Domain Walls

Magnetotransport measurements on small single crystals of Cr, the elemental antiferromagnet, reveal the hysteretic thermodynamics of the domain structure. The temperature dependence of the transport coefficients is directly correlated with the real-space evolution of the domain configuration as recorded by x-ray microprobe imaging, revealing the effect of antiferromagnetic domain walls on electron transport. A single antiferromagnetic domain wall interface resistance is deduced to be of order $5\times10^{-5}\mathrm{\mu\Omega\cdot cm^{2}}$ at a temperature of 100 K.Comment: 3 color figure

Chromium at High Pressures: Weak Coupling and Strong Fluctuations in an Itinerant Antiferromagnet

The spin- and charge-density-wave order parameters of the itinerant antiferromagnet chromium are measured directly with non-resonant x-ray diffraction as the system is driven towards its quantum critical point with high pressure using a diamond anvil cell. The exponential decrease of the spin and charge diffraction intensities with pressure confirms the harmonic scaling of spin and charge, while the evolution of the incommensurate ordering vector provides important insight into the difference between pressure and chemical doping as means of driving quantum phase transitions. Measurement of the charge density wave over more than two orders of magnitude of diffraction intensity provides the clearest demonstration to date of a weakly-coupled, BCS-like ground state. Evidence for the coexistence of this weakly-coupled ground state with high-energy excitations and pseudogap formation above the ordering temperature in chromium, the charge-ordered perovskite manganites, and the blue bronzes, among other such systems, raises fundamental questions about the distinctions between weak and strong coupling.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures (8 in color

Area-charge inequality for black holes

The inequality between area and charge $A\geq 4\pi Q^2$ for dynamical black holes is proved. No symmetry assumption is made and charged matter fields are included. Extensions of this inequality are also proved for regions in the spacetime which are not necessarily black hole boundaries.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figure

Pressure tuning of competing magnetic interactions in intermetallic CeFe_2

We use high-pressure magnetic x-ray diffraction and numerical simulation to determine the low-temperature magnetic phase diagram of stoichiometric CeFe_2. Near 1.5 GPa we find a transition from ferromagnetism to antiferromagnetism, accompanied by a rhombohedral distortion of the cubic Laves crystal lattice. By comparing pressure and chemical substitution we find that the phase transition is controlled by a shift of magnetic frustration from the Ce-Ce to the Fe-Fe sublattice. Notably the dominant Ce-Fe magnetic interaction, which sets the temperature scale for the onset of long-range order, remains satisfied throughout the phase diagram but does not determine the magnetic ground state. Our results illustrate the complexity of a system with multiple competing magnetic energy scales and lead to a general model for magnetism in cubic Laves phase intermetallic compounds

Non-uniqueness in conformal formulations of the Einstein constraints

Standard methods in non-linear analysis are used to show that there exists a parabolic branching of solutions of the Lichnerowicz-York equation with an unscaled source. We also apply these methods to the extended conformal thin sandwich formulation and show that if the linearised system develops a kernel solution for sufficiently large initial data then we obtain parabolic solution curves for the conformal factor, lapse and shift identical to those found numerically by Pfeiffer and York. The implications of these results for constrained evolutions are discussed.Comment: Arguments clarified and typos corrected. Matches published versio

Síntesis, estudio teórico de aril-lactonas y evaluación de su actividad inhibidora de la formación de β-hematina y de la enzima β-lactamasa

Las enfermedades infecciosas se han convertido en un problema de salud pública debido a la emergencia de la resistencia microbiana. Más de cinco millones de personas en Colombia viven en regiones endémicas de malaria cuyo parásito es resistente a cloroquina. Microorganismos como S. aureus y Enterococcus spp., han desarrollado la enzima βlactamasa que los hace resistentes a antibióticos. Se sintetizaron cuatro α,γ-aril-lactonas, las cuales fueron evaluadas como inhibidoras de formación de β-hematina a 2 mg/mL . La reacción se realizó a 60 °C por 1 h a pH 4,0 y el complejo fue monitoreado a 386 nm . Las lactonas también fueron evaluadas como inhibidoras de la enzima β-lactamasa, a concentraciones de 5,4 µmol/L para los inhibidores y 36 a 108 µmol/L para amoxicilina como sustrato. La actividad enzimática de los compuestos se monitoreó a 250 nm, 37 ºC por 10 h a pH 7,3. La modelación de los complejos lactona-Fe porfirínico de la hemina mostró que la interacción se establece a través del oxígeno del anillo furano, pero cuando la lactona tiene un grupo α-piridinil, la interacción se favorece a través del nitrógeno con detrimento de la actividad inhibidora. En la modelación molecular de los complejos enzimáticos se muestra que los residuos del sitio activo responsables de la interacción con la lactona son la Serina64 y Tirosina150 a través de fuertes enlaces de hidrógeno entre los hidroxilos de estos residuos y el oxígeno carbonílico de la lactona

Order parameter fluctuations at a buried quantum critical point

Quantum criticality is a central concept in condensed matter physics, but the direct observation of quantum critical fluctuations has remained elusive. Here we present an x-ray diffraction study of the charge density wave (CDW) in 2H-NbSe2 at high pressure and low temperature, where we observe a broad regime of order parameter fluctuations that are controlled by proximity to a quantum critical point. X-rays can track the CDW despite the fact that the quantum critical regime is shrouded inside a superconducting phase, and, in contrast to transport probes, allow direct measurement of the critical fluctuations of the charge order. Concurrent measurements of the crystal lattice point to a critical transition that is continuous in nature. Our results confirm the longstanding expectations of enhanced quantum fluctuations in low dimensional systems, and may help to constrain theories of the quantum critical Fermi surface.Comment: to be published in PNA

Effective Soft-Core Potentials and Mesoscopic Simulations of Binary Polymer Mixtures

Mesoscopic molecular dynamics simulations are used to determine the large scale structure of several binary polymer mixtures of various chemical architecture, concentration, and thermodynamic conditions. By implementing an analytical formalism, which is based on the solution to the Ornstein-Zernike equation, each polymer chain is mapped onto the level of a single soft colloid. From the appropriate closure relation, the effective, soft-core potential between coarse-grained units is obtained and used as input to our mesoscale simulations. The potential derived in this manner is analytical and explicitly parameter dependent, making it general and transferable to numerous systems of interest. From computer simulations performed under various thermodynamic conditions the structure of the polymer mixture, through pair correlation functions, is determined over the entire miscible region of the phase diagram. In the athermal regime mesoscale simulations exhibit quantitative agreement with united atom simulations. Furthermore, they also provide information at larger scales than can be attained by united atom simulations and in the thermal regime approaching the phase transition.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, 3 table